The <nav> tag

<nav> marks a block of primary navigation links — the main menu, breadcrumbs, or pagination.

Syntax

<nav>...</nav>

Example

<nav aria-label="Main navigation">
  <a href="/">Home</a>
  <a href="/about">About</a>
</nav>

Notes

Not every list of links needs a nav — use it for genuinely significant navigation blocks, not any random set of <a> tags.
A page can have several nav elements (main menu, footer nav) — distinguish them with aria-label.

Accessibility

nav has an implicit ARIA role of navigation.

Related tools

The <header> tag

Purpose of <header>: introductory content for a page or section (logo, navigation, heading).

Accessible navigation menu

A semantic navigation menu with aria-label and correct use of nav/ul/a.

Breadcrumbs

Semantic breadcrumb markup with nav+ol and aria-label.